Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, generally, to an implant placement device and, more particularly, to an implant placement device that endoscopically places an implant in tissue.
Description of Related Art
As a method of performing a treatment on organs of a human body, laparoscopic surgery is known in which a treatment tool is percutaneously inserted. The laparoscopic surgery requires less invasiveness compared to a case of making an incision in the abdomen, and fast recovery can be expected.
The treatment tool used in the laparoscopic surgery has a hard shaft that is percutaneously inserted into the body. A treatment tool such as forceps which is used to perform a treatment on living tissues is provided at a distal end of the shaft. For example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2005-193044, a treatment tool used to join luminal organs is disclosed. An intraluminal anastomosis device that is the treatment tool disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2005-193044 is mounted with a gripping tool, which is freely opened and closed, at a distal end of a shaft. A clamp is inserted into the shaft. The clamp may be pushed out of the distal end of the shaft by an extrusion mechanism of a proximal end. The clamp is produced by performing a heat treatment on a shape-memory alloy in a flat coil shape, and is inserted into the shaft in an extended state. When the clamp is used, the clamp is pushed out by the extrusion mechanism and is inserted into the body. The clamp is heated by body heat, is restored to the coil shape, and is placed in the living tissue. The luminal organs can be anastomosed by the clamp restored to the coil shape.
As another example of placing the clamp in the living tissue, a surgical tissue fastening instrument is disclosed in PCT International Publication No. WO2002/019923. For example, the clamp is pushed out of a needle and is placed in the tissue. The tissue fastening instrument is provided with a stopper that controls the depth to which the needle is inserted into the tissue and an amount at which the clamp is supplied into the tissue. When a treatment is performed using the tissue fastening instrument, the instrument housing the clamp and the needle is caused to strike the tissue. After the needle is advanced and inserted into the tissue, the clamp is fixed at a position by the stopper. Afterwards, the needle is pulled out of the tissue. Since the clamp is not displaced due to the presence of the stopper, a distal end portion of the clamp remains inside the tissue. When the instrument is removed from the tissue, the rest of the clamp remains outside the tissue. When the clamp is restored to the coil shape, the tissue is clamped.